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Education and
Training:
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Dr. Yingst attended McPherson College in
Kansas for his undergraduate studies. After spending his junior year studying at Phillips-Universitat
in Marburg/Lahn, West Germany, he returned to McPherson to complete his last year
earning an A.B. degree in Biological Science. He then moved to Los Angeles, California where he attended the
University of Southern California and achieved a Ph.D. in Biological
Science |
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Dr. Yingst traveled to
New Haven, Connecticut after he graduated to begin his Post-Doctoral training at Yale University in the area of Cell
Physiology and Membrane Transport.
Upon the completion of his Post-Doctoral work, Dr. Yingst
accepted an Assistant Professor position with the Physiology Department here at Wayne State
University. Currently an Associate Professor of Physiology, Dr. Yingst is an
enthusiastic and dedicated researcher, educator, and mentor. |
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Reaserach
Interests:
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Background: Physiological concentrations of
angiotensin II (Ang II) (10-12 to 10-9)
stimulate sodium reabsorption in the proximal tubule, which in turn
affects blood pressure, and contributes to the development of
hypertension. Our recent work shows that Ang II rapidly
(≤ 2 min), directly, and robustly stimulates the activity of
Na,K-ATPase, the active transport mechanism that ultimately drives
sodium reabsorption. Under these conditions Ang II also alters
the phosphorylation and conformation of Na,K-ATPase. To test the role of phosphorylation in regulating pump
activity we have co-expressed
the rat α-subunit in opossum kidney
cells, a proximal tubule cell line, along with AT1A
receptor. In these cells Ang II stimulates the activity of the
rat sodium proximal tubule. By doing site-directed mutagenesis
we plan to test which sites of phosphorylation are responsible for the
observed stimulation. |
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Specific Aims:
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determine the regulatory sites of phosphorylation
on the sodium pump through which Ang II controls pump activity
and to identify new phosphorylation sites |
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determine to what extent Ang II stimulates pump
activity by altering its kinetic properties compared to its
rapid recruitment to the plasma membrane |
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Goals of Current Work:
to develop a
cellular and molecular model to explain how Ang II rapidly regulates
NA,K-ATPase activity to better understand the regulation of sodium
reabsorption by the kidney. |
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